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Woodside welcomed the court’s decision on Friday confirming the validity of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority’s acceptance of the Scarborough offshore facility and trunkline (operations) environment plan (Scarborough operations EP).
The Scarborough Operations EP was the final Commonwealth environmental approval required for Woodside to connect, commission, and operate the Scarborough floating production unit, the Australian LNG producer said.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said this outcome “reinforces confidence in progressing the Scarborough energy project, which is generating thousands of jobs during the construction phase and creating significant supply chain opportunities.”
The project is expected to contribute more than A$50 billion ($32 billion) in direct and indirect taxes to Australia’s economy, according to Woodside.
“Scarborough is expected to be one of the lowest carbon intensity sources of LNG delivered into north Asian markets, providing reliable energy to the region while also supporting local energy security through critical domestic gas supply,” O’Neill said.
2026
Woodside expects to ship the first cargo from its Scarborough and the second Pluto LNG train project in the second half of 2026.
The project was 86 percent complete as at June 30 2025, excluding Pluto Train 1 modifications.
In November 2021, Woodside took a final investment decision on the Scarborough and Pluto LNG Train 2 developments.
Last year, Woodside revised the total project cost estimate to $12.5 billion ($8.2 billion Woodside share), a 4 percent increase from the previous cost estimate at FID of $12 billion.
The field is located some 375 kilometres off the coast of north-west Australia in the Carnarvon Basin.
Moreover, the project includes the installation of a semi-submersible floating production unit connected by a 433 km trunkline to a second LNG processing train known as Pluto Train 2 at
the Pluto LNG facility.
Pluto Train 2 will process about five million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of Scarborough gas, and with some modifications to the existing Pluto train, up to three mtpa will be processed there.